The Wastes of Michigan

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6

Prologue

Author's Note

This page was edited.

This is my first fanfic and I'm writing this purely for fun and in hopes others will like it too. As you may already know, it's a crossover with NEO Scavenger from Blue Bottle Games. It's not entirely necessary to have played the game first because you will get filled in about the facts later on. I highly recommend playing the game because it's pretty darn fun. There will be spoilers! So please beware. Other than that please enjoy.

Prologue

Celestia

Here I was, in the Veil and awaiting for Twilight to complete Starswirl's unfinished spell. I was confident in Twilight's abilities to rework his forgotten spell and correct his mistake. Twilight, being the studious and diligent mare as she is, will finish her last assignment as my student and ascend to become my equal. Starswirl the Bearded, once a great ally and personal friend, would've reached such a position, but without friendship, it was inevitable that he would never become an Alicorn. Despite the warnings that me and my sister carefully laid out for him, the idea of friendship never sat well for him and continued to confound him to his end.

Twilight has traveled much the same path as Starswirl the Bearded. Both once being my student and even defeating the threats that challenged Equestria. Despite Starswirl's beneficial studies and contributions to magic, Twilight Sparkle mastered the one thing that Starswirl did not. Friendship. It's one of the most powerful forms of magic. Able to convince the cruelest of evil doers to accept harmony into their hearts and escape the binding chains of hatred and malice. Once Twilight completes this spell, she will truly be the most powerful Unicorn in Equestria. Maybe in all of Equis. And I couldn't be prouder.

Of course, there would need to be plans for a crowning ceremony sometime in the future to honor the new Princess. As well as grooming her for her new tittle by giving out helpful hints here and there along the way. It should be nothing Twilight hasn't seen already. Before she left to Ponyville, Twilight would catch me filling out paperwork concerning the country and at times offer her own input on the subject when I asked for it. Other times I would talk to her about meetings with diplomats and officials of foreign countries. This gave her better insight of the world and how politics work. Without a doubt, she will adapt to her position and in a few decades, take a student upon herself to teach and groom for greatness.

I am thinking too far into the future. The present is what matters most after all. At any moment, Twilight shall soon finish the spell and become the next Princess to grace Equestria. Then she will appear in The Veil and her title of Godhood will be donned onto her. At any minute, at any second.

But something was wrong. Minutes have passed the expected time of her arrival to The Veil and beyond. Twilight should have been done with Starswirl's spell and the Elements should have sent her here. Yet she was not here. I try to convince myself to have more faith in my student's abilities. She hasn't let me down once in the past, she won't let me down now. But my worry grew until I was adamant that something went horribly wrong during the spell. I quickly ripped myself from The Veil and teleported above Ponyville. It was a cool night in Equestria with the townsfolk of Ponyville sleeping under Luna's moon and the stars. The atmosphere was far too calm to be right. It took me a few frantic looks to find Twilight's home. I hid my panic stricken face as I barged into her home, not bothering to knock at all.

Twilight's friends were here, forming a half circle around a smoldering black swirl. I mindlessly walk past the gaping ponies and stared at the spiral that was engraved in the wooden floor. That wasn't right. The mark was meant to represent Twilight's cutie mark. Not this generic swirl! I utter her name through a whisper but no pony seemed to have heard it. They were shouting arrays of questions pertaining to the whereabouts of Twilight or why I was here. All their questions came to the same theme. Where is Twilight? I had no answer.

"Silence!", I exercise my Royal Canterlot voice to bring a stop to the barrage of questions, "I do not know where Twilight has gone." They collectively gasp that not even I know where Twilight disappeared to. "That marking was meant to be in the shape of Twilight's cutie mark." I motioned my hoof to the marking.

"No offense Princess, but how would you know that?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

A let out a gentle sigh "After completion of the spell, she would be sent to me to become a Princess." Another gasp filters into the library, "A symbol of her cutie mark should have been left behind to show that she has indeed been sent to me." I say as calmly as I could trying not to reveal the quiver in my voice. "But now I don't know where she could have gone. A spell like this could have teleported her beyond our realm of existence."

"You mean that Twilight was poofed somewhere other than Equestria?" explained Pinkie Pie.

"Possible even beyond Equis. But before we panic, there are still traces of magic within the air. Especially near the mark itself. I-We will work our hardest to bring Twilight back to Equestria." I try my hardest to sound unperturbed about the situation. Finding Twilight will be no easy task to accomplish.

"Princess Celestia, surely there is something we can do? Perhaps our ties with the Elements of Harmony can locate her?" Rarity inquired.

My mind was going a mile a second. There was no written research done for anything like this. A blank field of study that has never been ventured before by mere ponies. The Veil was one place that Alicorns were able to manipulate freely and was considered a plain of existence, a separate reality from Equis. It offered Luna and I a quiet respite from work and gave us time to talk freely as sisters. Cadance was never informed of it mainly because it was agreed that The Veil should be kept secret and used for our own benefit. In time, we would let her know of our sanctuary along with Twilight Sparkle so that they may also use it if need be. If Twilight was not sent to The Veil, it's quite possible that she could be anywhere at any realm possible. Slingshot through time and space and landing in something vastly different.

Since this field of magic was never experimented on, the time it would take to find Twilight on my own would take years. Even with the help of Luna, it would still pose a challenge to find my student. It was time to come clean and share our knowledge with the staff of mages and scientist that work diligently under us for any hope to speed the search for my student. There will be furious ponies that demand a reason why I withheld such information and I will do my best to settle it.

Realizing I have been silent for quite a while now, I quickly muse over Rarity's suggestion. Her idea sounded probable but until more investigation is done, it will only be a suggestion. I needed the best ponies Equestria has to offer to look into this further.

"Using the Elements is a possibility. For now, I will assign a team here and see what they figure out. Return to your homes and arrive back here next week while they set up any equipment in the library. I'm sure they'll need questions from the ponies that witnessed it."

"You can count on us Princess. We'll get Twilight back." Pinkie happily replied as well as the others.

"Your optimism knows no bounds." They truly brought new hope to me. As the five leave Twilight's home, I turn to face the mark. I set my eyes on the charred sign once again. I close my eyes and whisper a silent prayer that Twilight will return home safe and sound. It dawns to me that I was crying when teardrops splattered onto the floor. I couldn't lose face now. It would be too early.

I wipe my eyes and prepare to leave to Canterlot. I needed to contact Twilight's parents and inform them of what has recently transpired today. Not to mention the likely-to-be angry scientists I would have the pleasure to explain the situation to. Even showing them The Veil that was immensely personal to me and Luna. Today is going to be a tough day.

Chapter 1

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 2

Jacob

It's already been a few hours since we left the forest. It's mid-day, still cloudy. Rain should be coming in and the temperature should be slowly dropping every passing day. Winter was coming. We'd have to scavenge out something warmer or buy them. The pony on the other hand? Don't know if clothes for them even exist. But I'm not gonna worry about that right now. Winter won't be coming in months.

The three of us were walking along a grassy plain. I looked down and saw through the chunks of grass some black concrete. This use to be a road back then, but nature has long since claimed most man-made structures in Michigan. Some of the vehicles and crumbling buildings were consumed by moss or anything else that life threw at it. Looking at a truck, wasting away as we passed it, I sometimes wish I had the chance to drive these old behemoths. But there hasn't been a working car in years. Well, these out-dated ones, I mean.

Moving my mind to something else, I took our inventory in mind. We were well on water for an extra day before we needed to stock up some more. The meat Davey prepped wouldn't last the next day, so we were gonna eat it when we find a suitable location to rest for the night. Our clothes were decent and wouldn't become rags anytime soon. All-in-all, we were solid. Until we had to go through the ruins to replace any breaking gear we have on us.

It takes a lot of diggin' to find anything good. Scavenging out here is much more difficult than it use to be. Everything was looted or just plain worn out at this point. It was either broken or useless to the person who found it. You needed a sharp eye and ingenuity to find anything worthwhile. That doesn't mean that Michigan is tapped out yet. She still hold's treasures like pre-collapse technology. It's too bad that none of us could use it. Only tech savvy people can get into the data it could hold and even then those people aren't plentiful in the wastes. A bit more common in the DMC though. Regardless, we take it. It could hold something important, right? Might as well let a professional take a look at it.

The group was silent, like any other time we traveled. Sparkle didn't say a thing after we left the forest. I looked over my shoulder to see how she's doing. She was following us, that much is true, but she was in a trance. She saw that car we passed, the road we're walking on, the buildings in the distance. All of it was crumbling for what seemed like forever. It's almost like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. I couldn't relate to her. I was born in the world already like this. Just a normal, everyday walk for me and Davey.

But not to her apparently. Her weirdly huge eyes kept looking at all the ugly that Michigan is. She didn't even notice me looking at her. Completely ignorant to my staring. I turned my head forward again and started thinking of the pony that we're taking care of now. I couldn't believe Davey defended this animal out of nowhere. I get what made her special and what made Davey hesitate to help her. Hell, if I was younger, I would've taken the pony along with us for the ride. I know better now not to act on those thoughts. She was just another mouth to feed and could possibly slow us down in walks like these. But the main reason I didn't want her with us is plain. She's a liability to the safety of this group. A soft pony who doesn't know the first thing of survival not to mention that she sticks out like a sore thumb. She's a complete handicap to this team. It's time for me to speak my piece. I turned to Davey and whispered to him, didn't want Sparkle hearing our conversation.

"Davey, tell me exactly why we took her in our group?" my tone was condescending.

"We couldn't leave Twilight alone. She looks way to innocent for this world. The things out here would kill her." he truly sounded like he cared for her. Why?

"Now tell me why I should care."

He didn't respond quickly and just let out a sigh "I don't have an answer for you."

"Exactly. She's gonna drain our water, our food. Anyone can see her. She sticks out so badly I'm afraid we'll get shot a mile away." all he replied with is an 'I know'.

"Listen to me right now." I drew my head closer to his, "I want her gone. We're a duo, you and me. I don't want to die because of some fucking pony crying or eating all our food. Plus, look at her." We both take a quick glance at her. She's still staring out at the landscape. "She looks like some clueless person. Likely never seen any danger in her entire life. The first sign of trouble and I bet she'll panic. Probably breathe too loudly, blow our cover, and we'll all end up dead."

"Well, maybe she can fight." he reasoned.

I laughed at the joke, but the look in his eyes said he was serious. It was time to settle this. To put out an ultimatum of my own. "I'm gonna make a deal with you, Davey. If she can fight and if she is willing to fight, she's with us until the checkpoint. Right? If she doesn't, she can still tag along but we won't help her under any circumstances."

Uneasily, he questioned, "What do you mean by that?"

"Means what it means. We won't feed her, won't patch her up, won't defend her when it comes to a fight."

"Isn't that taking it too far? What's the point of taking her along with us then if it comes to that?"

"If she's gonna be here, she has to learn to fight. I don't care who she was before. Sparkle is going to fight with this group or die. And that's final." I will not let Davey edge out of this one. She won't be spending this journey pampered like she's some glorified luggage. In this world, you have to get blood on your hands to live. I want her to get that feel of it soon. Sparkle will thank me one day if she goes through with this.

"I...I think you're right Jacob." he caved in.

"You're damn right I am."

I am the leader of this group, but we both decided on everything. In this case, it was entirely up to Sparkle to decide her own fate. Kill or be killed. No way around it.

We both stopped walking. I made the precaution to look around for any danger first. Didn't want to get clubbed in the head while talking to a purple unicorn about killing. When there was nothing hostile in sight, we turned our eyes on the now confused pony staring at us. She was darting her eyes between the two of us. I had a strict and punishing expression while Davey seemed more worried. We probably unsettled her even more now.

"Did I...do something wrong?" She backed away, possibly expected us to turn on her on the spot. The look on her face was priceless.

"Look Sparkle, other than crying, is there anything you can do that's actually useful?" I sneered.

She was insulted and furrowed her brow. At least she showed some backbone instead of crying outright. "Well if you couldn't tell, I can do magic." she said matter-of-fact.

That's right. She did mention something about magic.

"Well, what kind of magic?" Davey said curiously.

Breaking a smile she said, "Then let me show you what I can do."

She closed her eyes and started concentrating. Her horn was then enveloped in a glowing fuchsia aura of some kind. It kinda freaked me out in that it was weird and bizarre and that it radiated like a beacon, alerting anything that looked in our direction. Despite all that, it enthralled my attention, making me look in awe at the divinity of this energy. Her horn was no longer the center of attention but instead it was the aura she made that caught my eyes. It seemed like days where passing as I bathed in this expanding, enriching glow. I suddenly felt all the problems in the world were lifted of my shoulders. Muscles that are constantly tensed and tight just loosened up. The boiling anger I kept alive was soothed down. I felt forever at ease and my insides were warm and fluffy. I was compelled to embrace this godly aura, to accept it into my heart, but it seemed so far away and I was too at peace to move. I almost gave up my life, if only to touch this benevolent force. Not that I wanted to commit suicide from it. No, I was using my life as a bargaining chip. To trade my life and be free from the chains that bind my heart and to live in the infinite glow. To be forever at peace.

It was only a second or two when that entire sensation came and went. The serene world I was longing for shattered around me and I was brought back to miserable Michigan. I merely blinked away the vision from my thoughts. What ever the fuck that was, I wanted no part of it. I had responsibilities on my back and dreaming was not an escape from anything. Shaking my head from the illusion, I finally noticed the rock that was being carried by Sparkle's now dull aura.

With a smirk she said, "See. Magic."

Davey saw the rock coming towards him so he raised his open hand to catch it. The rock gently rested on his palm before the aura left it. He grabbed the grey rock in between his thumb and index finger and held it up to his astonished face.

"Can all unicorns do this?" Davey asked in wonderment, still looking at the rock, expecting it to start moving though the air.

"Any unicorn back in Equestria can do that. It's actually one of the more simpler spells that we can do." Sparkle seemed like she was showing off her skill. In her defense, she did deserve to rub it in our faces after my little comment.

Now that I know she can actually do something useful, I needed to get to the point of this conversation.

"What about something else more for your situation? Y'know, anything lethal to protect yourself?" I questioned.

"Well, the thing is, this world hardly has magic to work with. It actually scares me knowing how little there is around me. It's enough to do a levitating spell, what I just did, and other less consuming spells. Um, there are spells that can cause harm, but they drain up much more magic than what I just used. Not that I'd ever use one with the intent to kill. I could just teleport away or conjure up a shield to defend myself." Sparkle was sure to her claim until she remembered the dilemma, "If I had enough magic to do that..."

"But you can kill with it, right? Using magic?" I continued.

She blanched at my persistence. "Yeah, I guess I could. But I've never taken another's life before. I'm sure you fine...gentlehumans will defend me, right?"

Her worried smile deepened my frown. Davey tries to convince her. "You're going to have to learn pretty soon. We won't always have your back y'know."

"Then I could just stand out of the way while you two...do the deed. Besides, I'm sure such a situation won't happen." She kept the excuses up.

By that time I was fed up. I reached into my pack to pull out a heavy metal wrench. I kept it with me for if my bat were to go missing or break in half. It made for a decent starter that I'm sure Sparkle can handle.

"Hey, let me see you lift this wrench up with your magic real quick." I laid the wrench over my palm, letting her grab it with her mind.

"Uh, sure..." She took a closer step toward me and studied the object in my hand before she closed her eyes and focused. The aura around her horn wrapped around the entirety of the wrench. It was but a few seconds before it lifted out of my hands and was (sorta) held upright before her. With a smile she said happily "Just a little more effort, but I did it. Now what?"

Oh boy. She was gullible. "Take some swings with it. Get a feel for it."

Her smile instantly vanished as well the aura on the wench, making it fall down to earth. "Will you quit it? I'm not going to kill anypony! Stop forcing me to do it!"

"You listen to me, you little shit!" She recoiled from that, "This entire world will eat you alive. I'm doing you a favor by letting you travel with us. The least you can do is defend this group from anything out here wanting to kill us. And believe me when I say that killing WILL happen on this journey. I fucking guarantee it. There are insane psychopaths wandering this vast that will literally kill you for your godddamn shoes. Anything else you have is a bonus to the fucker! You are completely clueless of w-"

"Turn your voice down." Davey warned me, "Maybe that won't happen Jacob. Just let it go."

I was furious. Pissed off by this unicorn. I had a bad temper, but she was just getting annoying. Sparkle looked much more scared by my outburst. Just when my eyes looked into hers, she side glances away. Psh, pathetic. I snatch the wrench that landed near her hooves and stuffed it in my pack. Before we resumed our march I hissed out one more thing. "When the times comes, you can kiss your sorry life away. Cuz when you're lying in a pool of your own blood, we'll be walking away without a care in the world."

And our walk continued again. I didn't hear Sparkle's steps until we were a good 10 feet away. Davey let out a sigh of relieve from hearing it. My temper was still high but the walk was etching away the anger, bit by bit. I know this is the right choice. Either she learns to fight or she's left behind. It's simple.

It would be some 10 minutes until Twilight shouted out a wait. Her hooves were shuffling the the grass and her eyes didn't meet ours. "Jacob. I'm...I'm sorry for how stubborn I'm being about this. But you have to understand that Equestria, the place that I come from, is a peaceful place. Death by violence is just so rare, not even criminals are put to death. Just sent to jail or banished depending on the crime. Even more is that Equestria hasn't been in war for centuries! We believe and practice friendship and harmony. Where an imbalance could disrupt our very world. I'm an upholder of these principles and have used them multiple times to save my country." She took a pause of breath. Over her speech, she spoke with much more passion and was staring with a fierce intensity. "Killing is wrong. Only the cruelest of ponies would ever do that and feel no remorse afterwards. The Royal Guards would have to deal with them personally then. That's why you shouldn't force me to do this. You shouldn't make me go against the morals that every pony is taught to do. I don't want that kind of trouble on my hooves."

Right now, I couldn't care for what she was before. She needed to decide. I told it to her straight. "We're not in Equestria. Out here its kill or be killed. Fight to live. And from what it sounds like, you'd rather die than live. Make your choice Sparkle. Because when shit hits the fan, I know you won't be among the living. You will die out here and no one will give a damn about it. Make. Your. Choice."

I bet she expected me to be fazed by her 'voice of reason'. I had some sympathy for Sparkle, but not enough to change my mind on this. Life's tough and this is the current reality we live in. You can't run away from it no matter how hard you try. And she was trying with all her might. Here's to hoping she changes her mind.

"I'm sorry Jacob. But...I just can't. I-I can't..." she kept on mumbling on how she just can't do it.

I couldn't believe it. You know what? Forget this. "You're pathetic Twilight Sparkle." I spat at her then turned to walk away. Everyone, including Sparkle, falls in with my steps. Silence once again reigned over the walk. I heard the horse making sniveling sounds, likely crying. I was through with her and wouldn't spare a glance or worry. Somehow, Davey wasn't quite done with her yet. His pace slowed down to walk side-by-side with Sparkle. He didn't quite talk to her until a minute or two. He just walked along side of her. Keeping her company.

Then he spoke. "He gave me the same talk when I didn't want to kill all those years ago. I felt exactly as you do right now. But he's right. You will die if you refuse to put up an effort to fight. Jacob is a tough and a hard man to please and I know he's asking a lot from you on the first day. Just accept it and hope we don't walk into a fight. But if we do you have to fight, we'll fight together. Otherwise, we won't save you the trouble. Do yourself a favor and take the wrench, Twilight."

She didn't reply to him. It was kinda hard to make out what she was thinking of, especially when I was ignoring her. I just kept walking and waited for something to happen. Then she stopped walking, so did Davey, then I too stopped. We all looked at Sparkle expecting an answer. I saw her wet face and puffy eyes. She was focused on the ground trying to measure her choices. After some time she calls out in a clear voice.

"I'll take the wrench." About damn time. This dragged on for far too long. I retrieve the wrench from my pack again and held it loosely in my hand. Sparkle grabbed it and surveyed the cold metal steel. Not liking the idea of having to possibly kill with it in the near future. "Where do I keep it?"

"Heh. That's right." I took the wrench back and shoved it into my backpack. "We'll find you something to carry it."

She sniveled in response. Such a drama queen.

"You did the right thing Twilight." Davey said warmly.

"It sure doesn't feel like the right thing."

She'll get over it by the end of the day. But for now we still had a walk to go before we can rest up for the night. And so the trek to the checkpoint resumed again.

Chapter 3

Jacob

We've been walking restlessly for the past couple of hours, drinking gulps of water occasionally. The rain finally started and the night was soon coming. The next ruins we see will have to make for an impromptu shelter. Make camp is some building.

No one has talked after Sparkle's commitment to uphold the wrench. Just the mute sound of the world and our heavy steps droned on. It was really comforting for me. Reminds me of any other time me and Davey traveled alone, in silence. Just reaching point B. With the addition of another person in tow. Left to my thoughts, I didn't think too badly of her. Coming from a land of 'Harmony' crap to harsh Michigan can take its toll on the mind and the body. As long as she commits to what we told her, she'll be fine.

Tall spiraling building were in view. The moon was coming overhead and the sun has nearly gone. Time to take refuge and sleep out the night.

"Alright guys, we're heading into those ruins up ahead to find a place to sleep. Keep your guard up." I turn to Twilight, "Especially you." She nods her head, still looking grim.

We eventually reach the crumbling city. Davey had his rifle ready to fire, looking all around our surroundings for any jumps. He was our eyes and ears for now and made sure to use his sharp senses to detect trouble.

These ruins were the remains of high rising office buildings, apartments, small stores, and suburban homes. They compared in crumbling foundations, shattered windows, graffiti, and being picked clean of most valuable's. The scenery was common all over Michigan but had the chance of being occupied by a group. Like bandits. Or something worse than that.

While traversing the area for a place to rest, we saw a lone looter. Davey spotted him through a torn down wall making a loud ruckus from his scavenging. He was in an ordinary home that use to belong to a family. He didn't notice us so we simply just passed him. Twilight stared longer than we did before she followed suit. Other things we saw were graffiti that had random signs or messages. Just pointless stuff. We saw the common feral dog rummaging through garbage. Its keen hearing picked us up but the poor thing was frail and shaking so all it did was growl in our direction. Again, we just ignored it, leaving it to its trash.

We stuck close to shadows as we looked for a spot for rest until we found a huge square office building which seemed to hold about eight storeys, not including the base. Some window panes were shattered on the higher floors and the glass entrance doors were much the same. Davey and I stepped through the door, the glass crunching under our footwear. "Careful for the glass." Davey murmured to Sparkle. A quiet "Okay." came as she carefully entered the building, minding her steps. This was the main lobby of the office building. Scattered about were stained sofas, filing cabinets, papers, and tables. To the left of the room were the stairs that lead to the upper parts of the structure. Another door beside it was just a door frame with no door. It led to the rest of the ground floor. To the right were two elevators with a shattered potted plant in between them. One was closed shut while the other was gaping open. In front of us was a wide arrow shaped desk that looked far neater than anything here. It was dusty, sure, but there was nothing else wrong with it. No stains or cuts and chips in the wood. All it had was various business crap of papers with charts that were meaningless now. Sparkle was looking at everything with mild interest. She even looked at some of the graphs and tried to make sense of them. I guess she's into that sort of stuff. I told her to drop it and we moved for the stairwell. Before we even went up the first flight of stairs, Davey set down his noise trap near the door. A good precaution from any sneaky bastards in the night. Then off we went up the stairs.

We decided to stay on the third floor after searching every room for anyone hiding out. There was no one here except us. We rolled out our 'Mummy' bedrolls from our packs and laid them out next to each other. We were settled around a bunch of cubicles that gave cover from being outright seen if anyone were to come in. Davey sat cross legged, I sat much the same up against a cubicle wall, and Sparkle folded her legs in under herself. Davey sat his pack over his lap and opened it up. He pulled out our day old dried meat that was wrapped in foil. He handed me a small chunk as well as for himself. He turned to Sparkle, shaking the foil, asking if she wanted some.

Sparkle just blanched at the thought. "I'm a herbivore...I didn't know your kind were meat eaters..." Wasn't that obvious?

Davey just shrugged and exchanged the foil for a can of noodle soup. "We can't light up a fire for obvious reasons. So you're gonna have to eat it cold, alright Twilight?" That only seemed to upset the pony further. I only watched her as I ate my meat and drank from a personal bottle of water.

Sighing, she says, "Yeah. It's fine." Davey sets it on the floor and it was then shortly levitated toward Sparkle.

She looked depressed, looking at the can disapprovingly. "How am I going to open this?" She lets out after a while.

"Can't you use magic to open it?" Davey said with a mouthful.

Her expression showed disdain from Davey's chewing, she replied "I could. But I'm trying to save up magic. I don't want to waste it on something so trivial as opening a can."

I was almost through with the dry meat in my hands. I let out a little air from my nostrils and snorted as I reached for a spare knife I kept concealed in a pocket from my pack. The blade was a tad bit dull with black smudges on it, and from the utter disgust on Sparkle's face, I roll my eyes and grab a clean rag to wipe the blade to a clean-ish state.

"We don't have anything else that can open it. Make due with this." We could have opened it some other way, but I wanted to see what she'd do.

I held it for her to take. She just shook her head. "I'm not hungry anymore..." Davey let out a disappointed 'Oh Jacob' but other than that, he didn't do anything.

"We ain't gonna eat anything else until midday tomorrow."

Davey passed me the last strip of meat. Sparkle's face was skewered into a tight face of revulsion.

"Have you 'used' this on anyone?" Her emphasis on 'used' made me chuckle.

A little lying couldn't hurt. "Yeah, but just make sure the blade doesn't touch the soup and you should be fine." Another look, one of nausea, repugnance, and horror. All in one was directed to the blade.

Probably thinking of her choices, and the sound of her stomach growling, she eventually levitates the knife over to the can. She angled the knife and stabbed the lid, only the tip entering. She wiggled the knife and easily popped the lid off, revealing the noddles soaking in broth. She then handed the knife back to me. I slipped it back into my pack. "Can someone please pass a spoon." she spoke with much withstrain on her voice.

Grumbling out, "Drink it from the rim." probably didn't help with her rising anger.

She let out a sigh and stared deep into the broth before lifting it up with her hooves somehow and to her lips. A long slurp came from her before she steadily dropped the can. I hope she wouldn't throw up and to my surprise she didn't. She kept at that can until it was done.

She sure sounded stress about all this. I am an ass but even I know when to pull myself back. Might as well give out some answers to relieve her anger a bit. I finish off the meat and take a sip of water. The entire time she just glared at me, waiting for an answer. "I'm just being an ass, sorry. We could answer more questions if you want.

She flashed an eager smile. She looked happy to hear more of Michigan for whatever reason.

"Finally! Alright, so, what happened to civilization? Why is everything in ruins? That question has been on my mind ever since we stepped out of the woods you found me in." First question. Pretty easy.

"I don't know." My answer shocked her.

"What do you mean you don't know?" she questioned.

"I don't know, kid. Davey doesn't either. I was born into this world already in shambles. I'd guess it's already been more than a century or more since the collapse."

She squinted her eyes. "You just mentioned a collapse. That must entail something on what occurred to the world."

"That's just what everyone calls it. Pretty ominous, ain't it?" I chuckle.

She took some seconds to process the answer and consider her next question. "Where's the government in all this? Surely you have some form of leadership for your people. Why aren't they helping?"

"The only government in Michigan is the DMC."

"DMC?"

Davey pipes in, "Detroit Megacity. Largest civilized place we know of. The city holds over one million people behind its walls. The place is constantly growing and expanding outwards."

"Well from the talk of it, it must be safer than roaming the wilds. Why doesn't anyone go there for shelter?"

"I'm sure your peace loving world would accept all refugees into their cities." I started. "Ponies are mild-mannered right? Well humans are something else entirely. We're volatile and destructive creatures by nature. There's others out here that will kill you for no good reason. Sometimes they'll kill for fun or out of desperation. Not everyone is allowed to enter the DMC for that reason alone. Besides that, there's those that could carry diseases, contraband and whatnot. Only trusted individuals can enter."

In her mind, I knew she clicked into something. "Is that the reason why you're out here? Because you're killers?" She looked frighten by the realization she made in her head.

Davey chimed in to wipe out that idea. "Heh, whoa now Twilight. Reel that in. We aren't murdering savages. See?" he slides up his right sleeve to show the device wrapped around his wrist. This didn't really put her mind at ease but rather intrigued her. "This bracelet here grants us permission to walk around the DMC. They're pretty hard to come by. They carry our personal information in them so if anyone steals it off our bodies, they still won't be allowed to enter. They also, uh, track our position when inside the city."

"Well, is there any reason why you and Davey aren't living in the DMC?"

Davey was going to answer but looked to me. I shook my head and spoke instead. "I...I was expelled from living there. For life." a tense silence falls across the room. Sparkle seemed regretful of her question. "I'm still allowed to travel into the city. Albeit under strict watch."

Sensing that the story behind that was sensitive, she didn't bother to question it further. The room was getting kinda awkward anyways.

Davey clears out his throat, breaking the quiet. "Well buying a house is pretty expensive. You can't exactly find a permanent job in a city that you're temporarily visiting. You'd need to make money selling crap or taking jobs from the locals to get anywhere near the cost of a home. Plus paying to be a citizen? Forget it. That's hundreds of thousands already being drained but it's something I hope to end up in." He glances at me and gives a small sad smile. "Maybe they'll be more lenient with your sentence and we'll finally live together, Jacob."

"I'd be a withered old man that you'd have to feed by then. A burden"

"As long as it's out of harm, I can live with that."

Sparkle was smiling at Davey's loyalty for me. It really was kind of him to say that to me. But deep down, I know it will never happen. I'll likely die out here and Davey will have to live on his own. The wilderness was my home. It's where I belong now.

"So how do you guys earn a paycheck for yourselves? You must have an income if Davey's dream is to be a reality."

Davey continued to answer Twilight. "Well Jacob and I both work for an organization in the DMC. It takes the word 'scavenger' to a much more respectable meaning. Scavengers, like us, work for Mr. Hatter outside the city. The man is beyond old but is well respected in the DMC. He even has a say in leadership."

"First of all, tell me about the organization."

"I got this one, Davey. The organization, run by Hatter, is a private company. It's not owned by the government but they support us. This whole idea of using 'scavengers' to scout out Michigan was first thought up by the man himself. We're 'Scavengers'. See, DMC guards only know how to shoot and keep the peace. They wouldn't survive a day in the vast. Scavengers, on the other hand, can live off the land and survive. The things we do is mostly surveying locations, checking up on what's happening in Michigan. Other times we have to accompany guards to establish checkpoints. Rarely do we keep these checkpoints safe though. They're often overrun in less than a week from bandits or other beasts. But when we do keep a place secure, it's a huge deal and offers a safe haven for anyone passing through. It also gives any scavengers who were with the group a nice little bonus to their pay. The only reason why the Scavengers are supported by the government was from the Grayling mission all these years ago that gave them the influence and power to run the DMC. Done solo by the first model Scavenger, Philip Kindred.

I just dropped a load of info on her. She seemed to handle it well since she was listening to every word I said. "Why haven't you mentioned any of this before?"

"You never asked." she put her hoof to her temple at my stupid answer. Davey and I snickered at that and soon Sparkle was giggling along with us. It's not that what I said was funny or anything. We were just relieving some tension. To let out a good laugh over shenanigans. It was just a good time all around for only lasting some seconds.

"Okay, okay. You got anymore questions? We still have time before we actually sleep." Davey said with a smile still on his face.

"Yeah, I still have some." she let out any giggles in her throat before she spoke again. "You mentioned a person named Philip Kindred. Who was he?"

I let out a low whistle. That was a far back so I delved into my mind to pull out some memories of about him. "Uh...Philip was around when I was just a kid on the streets. I'm talking about thirteen in age, I'm 52 now. Philip was just this new guy who showed up out of no where. Nothing special by looking at him. But word caught around that he was working for Hatter somehow. Hatter back then was real shifty. He dressed oddly and never talked to anyone out in the streets. So Philip must've done something to get his attention. Anyways, I didn't hear much of Kindred after that. It was a few weeks later that rumors came out about him taking the job to Camp Grayling. We all knew it was a suicide job but there was always the possibility. So he left. As it turns out, that by the end of the month, our old government came into power over the DMC. A government from before the collapse. They had Grayling at the touch of their fingers which meant that Philip succeeded his job. So this shadowy government became the new leaders of the DMC. It's pretty much the same old DMC, from what I hear, except the idea of expansion was much more prominent in their minds. Reclaim what use to be ours and crap. As for Philip Kindred, he did his job but was never seen again."

"So I'm guessing he did get into Camp Grayling?"

"That he did." Davey confirmed.

"Then what made it a suicide mission?"

I nodded to Davey to tell her. I had enough explaining for today. "Camp Grayling is like this high tech base that has some pretty nasty defenses to it. Electrified fences and little emitters and spider robots that shoot microwave energy at you. That stuff burns you to a crisp real quick. The significance of the place are these drones stationed in the hangars at Grayling. These huge planes - you know what planes are, right?" Seeing her shake her head, Davey goes in to explain. "Imagine being in some ground vehicle, okay? Now imagine that, but way bigger, a lot more aerodynamic, and it travels through the sky at tremendously high altitudes. Anyways, Camp Grayling has these planes that can do recon way more efficiently and faster than any human can. The only reason the Scavengers didn't go out of business from it was because none of them are operational! Some top techies are looking into fixing them up. Besides that, there's planes and other airborne stuff that work just fine. Those are mostly used for carrying supplies back and forth. From DMC to Grayling.

"You didn't really answer my question, Davey. Not really." She smiled.

"Oh crap. You're right. Well, before it was under government control, it was abandoned. Anyone who entered had no chance to survive. Those defenses I mentioned were very much still active. Anyone Hatter sent there never returned. You can guess what happened to them."

Davey left it as that. Twilight seemed to muse over the things we told her. "So just to get this organized: This Mr. Kindred was sent to the dangerous military outpost of Camp Grayling by your boss, Hatter, many years ago. Kindred does complete what he's assigned to do, but ends up missing. Your pre-collapse government takes control of Grayling and then the DMC. And Hatter goes off to create an organization that uses scavengers to journey across Michigan. Is that everything?"

I clicked my tongue. "Tch. I guess so."

A nice silence fell. Me and Davey just told her a lot of facts about the world. I hope we satisfied her curiosity now. Davey lets out a loud drawn out yawn. Followed by Twilight. I was tuckered out too, but not enough to go to sleep. I'm on guard duty tonight.

"I guess it's time for bed." Davey yawns once more and settles inside his 'mummy' bag. Twilight looked around for another bag. the only one left was mine.

"Where will I sleep?" She wanted that bedroll; she didn't want to admit to being selfish by just crawling into mine. I'm sure she didn't want to sleep on this nasty floor. I know I wouldn't want to.

"I don't get much sleep now-a-days. Go ahead and sleep in my bag tonight. I'll be busy keeping an ear out for any intruders."

She called an affirmative "Okay." then went over to my bedroll and looked into my eyes as if to say 'Are you sure'? I nodding my head to her. She whispered a thank you and settled into the 'mummy' bag.

With both hands, I rubbed the tired out of my face. Both of my companions were asleep and I had guard duty again. I couldn't help but to stare at the sleeping pony. Her chest was rising and falling with her breath. Sparkle is an actual alien in our world, she's here by mistake, we're taking care of her. I wonder if her people will come for her? Maybe they'll enslave the human race and take us to their peaceful home planet to live a life as humble servants. Yeah right. From what little Sparkle told me about her home, I'd take a guess that their army is just a bunch of prissy ponies. She better pray that her people don't come here. They'll get wreaked by Michigan and every single being in Michigan.

I pull out the knife from my boot and twiddled with the tip. Nothing left to do but wait for morning.

Chapter 4 Author's Note

Been a while. That dream chapter shouldn't have been made. I'll probably put it in later down the road.

Chapter 4

Twilight

My eyes open wide to see to see a shadowy face inches from mine. I let a shriek slip out but a hand was immediately palmed over my mouth. I struggled briefly against and sputtered out Jacob's name. I expected a hit of some kind but when none came, I managed a peek at who was pinning me. Through the darkness revealed, to my relieve, a familiar face. It was Davey looking down at me, holding a single finger to his lips while simultaneously whispering out a shush. The gesture obviously meant to be quiet.

He gave me a second to get up and adjust from the rude awakening before he removed his hand. "Breathe easy. Be quiet. Don't speak and listen." I attempt to respond but he cuts me off, he didn't need an answer to proceed anyways. He just kept going. "The noise trap went off. People are in the building right now. Jacob went out to check and see who we're dealing with." A sharp crash down below followed.

This was bad. I didn't expect to meet trouble so soon, to be facing a real danger here. On the other chance, it could've been some animal that triggered the trap. Perhaps it stumbled in here seeking shelter. I secretly hoped it was a stray dog, but the alarmed voices from the intruders quickly shot down that idea. There were multiple humans in this office building. From what I was informed, it was everyone for themselves so this could very well put us in jeopardy.

I strained my ears to make out any words. Anything to know why they were here. I did managed to pick out at least 4 different voices. Many of them sort-of just blended together, with them being a couple of floors down, it was too hard to pick out any single word from the bunch.

I shuddered. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm pretty sure they aren't here to say hello. We're likely going into a fight." Oh no.

"Do I...have to get involved?" He nods. My stomach suddenly turned for the worst and stayed that way. "Oh Celestia...I'm so sorry." I didn't have much of a choice. Whatever happens here today, I hope my friends will forgive me.

"Hey now. We'll get through this, don't worry. Me and Jacob got you covered."

"I trust you Davey. I just don't want blood on my hooves."

"Out here, it was bound to happen. There's no escaping it, Twilight."

Davey left it as that and stood up from his crouched position. He then went over to his sleeping area, slung his gun over his shoulder and started padding through his things to check if everything was there. As he was doing that, I noticed that Jacob left the wrench behind. Finding it near Davey's sleeping bag, I levitated it over to me and onto my back. The cold metal sent chills down my back. I didn't like the idea of using this so soon.

Davey was done assorting through his things and faced me. "You good to go?"

"No. Not really."

Just as he was going to respond, the door opened with a slight creak. With gun ready, Davey aimed at the door. The figure in the door frame hushed out a "It's Jacob." His grip on the gun relaxed and he slung it back over his shoulder. Jacob walked carefully to us trying not to make a sound. Once he got to us, we formed a misshapen circle and leaned our heads in. In the same hushed voice, he spoke. "We're dealing with Mutha's. Cannibals." He said, making sure I knew. "There's a three man group searching the stairs right now. More are waiting in the lobby. Are you ready for this Sparkle?"

My imagination was truly running wild at this point. All from the world cannibal. These "mutha's" must be vile to commit such a crime. Eating their own race? This was beyond anything grizzly I've ever heard. If they could eat humans, I'm sure they wouldn't mind eating me. Appealing to my cowardice, I make one last protest.

"Jacob, I know I agreed to do this, but you can't expect me to fight cannibals. I'd just freeze up and they'll get me." Before Jacob was to reiterate his reason for me to fight, Davey cut him short with his own speech.

"Look Twilight. This decision is fully your own. You can decide whether to kill these bandits or not." I was relieved to hear him say that while Jacob looked ready to complain. "But if you decide not to help defend this group, we will part ways here. Like Jacob said before, it's kill or be killed. You can choose to live a life without having to kill a single soul. But that will be a very short lived life. I understand your world is a land of peace and harmony but you have to understand that this place is not. If you don't start pulling your own weight around here and stop acting like a damn child, we could very well all die here in some fucking office building. You will help us kill these cannibals. If you do, we will keep you safe under our watch. If not, you'll be left here to die. Please Twilight. Make the right choice."

All my hope was shattered throughout his speech but he did stake the claim. I had a decision to make. A snivel made me realizing that I was crying once again but not as harshly as the other time. They were silent tears. Davey was right when he said I was acting like a child. So it was with a heavy heart that I would set aside my ideals of friendship and will my body to do something no pony should bring themselves to do. I wouldn't ever be the same pony again when I fully committed to this.

When I was to make my decision, infuriated death threats could be heard through the open door. Malicious jokes about killing us off and grilling us over a fire. They were laughing and howling for our death. This tactic was meant to strike fear, which affected me to the fullest possible way. I couldn't take my eyes away from the dark door frame. Expecting at any moment for them to jump out of the dark and slaughter us all. Force me to watch as they killed the only beings I could consider friends in this miserable world. Then they'd surely murder me in the end. Maybe even keep my head as a souvenir to remind them the time they ate a real life unicorn.

Davey blocked my view from the door and I refocused onto him. "Make the right choice."

I knew my choice. "I will. I'll help fight back."

Davey let a sigh of relief. "As much as I don't want you in harm's way, this will be a good way to get you some experience dealing with these thugs."

"Me and Davey got your back. We'll live through this." added Jacob.

Their words offered little reassurance to me. Going in one ear and out the other.

This was it, no turning back now.

Jacob quickly went over to his equipment and sheathed a spare knife into his right boot while also grabbing the bat he was lugging around. Similarly, Davey picked up his own blade and stuffed it into the pocket of his hoodie. I couldn't exactly prepare for the fight we were getting ready for. The only thing I had was the wrench and that was already with me. I merely waited patiently and mentally prepared myself, clearing my thoughts of any doubts or last minute changes.

"Alright team, this is how it's going to play out," Jacob started "That 3 man group I mentioned is currently searching the stairs. We're gonna set up an ambush a floor higher and take them out. Twilight, you're going to be bait in this one."

"Hold up, this is too sudden for me. Is it truly wise to put me into th-"

"It's like we keep saying Twilight. We have your back." Davey said.

I sigh in defeat. None of this boded well for me. "...Alright Jacob."

"Hey, if this goes right, you won't need to muddy your...hooves...in blood. For now. Do what you're told and you'll be fine. Now let's move before we lose our chance."

We proceeded to make our way to the door and down the stairs. The sick feeling never leaving my stomach the entire way.

Sneaking in the dark, we stopped at the second floor and enter to a long, wide hallway which was filled with various office debris scattered all over the floor. As quietly as we have been, Jacob closed behind him and started whispering his plan. "This floor is next to be searched by the trio. We're doing this ambush right in these halls. Sparkle, you'll stay in the middle and try to get their attention. Hopefully they'll think of you as some random animal. Try to sell it though. Davey, I want you to go down this hall, find some cover, and take aim at the door. When the time comes, you know when, you'll sound out 'duck' so Sparkle will give you a clear shot at close range. We got it?"

"Got it." "Y-yeah." We sounded out simultaneously.

"Good. I'll stick behind this door frame," he pointed with his thumb, "and get them from behind after I hear your first shot. Now move."

Davey and I lightly shuffled to our places with him hiding over a fallen filing cabinet and with me a few feet from him and out in the open, shaking and scared to the bone. Jacob has already gone to his spot. It would be several minutes of siting and staring at the door until those monsters would enter our floor. For the entire time I ran scenarios of how badly this could turn out, especially my role. What if they just pulled out a gun and shot me on sight? Maybe the rest of them would just come here and do away with us for good.

Footsteps could be heard. They were coming up and were now on our floor level. My mind went blank as I waited in suspense, staring at the door handle to jingle and for the door to creak open.

But it didn't go that way. They weren't quiet when they kicked the door open almost off the hinges. The brutes filled the hall, shoulder to shoulder.

Thanks to my eyesight, I took notice of their faces, clothing and weapons. All three were extremely filthy with tattered clothing and messy manes. Their odor was intense and violated my nostrils. I had to hold back from gagging, it was so bad. As for their weapons, the sides carried rusty crowbars while the middle one carried a long blade. The blade looked dull. So much so, that it probably wouldn't cut so cleanly in a first swing.

I couldn't help but freeze up at the sight of them. So intimidating, so menacing. Because of this, one of the brutes were about to enter the doorway Jacob was hiding at. His cover would be blown and the the three would surely gang him resulting in his violent death.

It wasn't until Davey poked me with the barrel of his rifle, that I let out a yelp and alerted them. I saw their heads sharply turn to me and a small silence occurred. No going back now, I started walking forward and attempted to look oblivious. My hooves made clip clop sounds against the floor as I slowly walked.

"Is that a deer?" "No...I think it's a...horse?" "I don't care which, it's going to be my meal right now."

That last comment halted my approach and I stared in horror as the man walked to me, clutching his knife. I started going in reverse "Don't be afraid of little 'ol me, horsie!" He said wickedly, showing off his disgusting yellow teeth. I was certain that this was the end until a loud "DUCK!" sounded out. By instinct, I dropped to the floor with a thud as a loud whizzing something passed overhead followed by another, heavier thud, dropping to the floor.

"What the hell?!" One brute who voiced his confusion. Just as quick as it all began, Jacob darted out of the doorway with a knife in his hand. With it, he lodged it into the neck of the nearest brute and sickeningly twisted it in its place. His victim hardly put up a struggle, only grabbing Jacob's forearm that was looped around his neck before falling limp and lifeless. Leaving the dagger in his neck, Jacob quickly followed with a swing of his fists to the last of the trio who had his back to the wall. His fist smashed into his nose which slammed him to the wall and slide down to the floor. A sharp cry for mercy were his last words before Jacob's foot made impact with his skull. He lifted his booted foot and repeatedly stomped on the man's head which resulted into many fleshy pops. He finally stops after some seconds now lightly panting from the exertion.

My eyes were open the entire time watching Jacob take out two men in but a minute. This worked so well for us but the end result was something I couldn't handle. The air had the blood of our attackers which didn't stop me from shaking. I trotted over to the closest body, the one Davey shot, and looked at him. He had the cleanest of deaths but that didn't make it any better.

The entry wound was in the forehead and passed through the back. Through the hole in his head, I saw the destroyed bits of brain, ripped flesh, and a well of blood. The well was slowly being emptied onto the floor behind the man's head. The soon-to-be puddle was expanding rapidly and nearly touched my hooves before I jerked backwards and promptly vomited next to his head.

My eyes burned just as much as my throat did. Davey patted my head, to which I horribly flinched to, and said "You did great, Twilight. Nice job." Why did he sound so proud for this? This was just too wrong, too sudden, too much to handle right now. I had to forgo my emotions when Davey patted my side this time and told me to come along. He goes off down the hall to Jacob and I follow unsteadily after him, trying not to look at the fresh corpses that lied on the floor. Jacob had his ear to the door, likely to hear if anyone was coming up after us. After a while he moved back from the door.

"Don't think they're coming up. We shouldn't keep them waiting." He looks down to one of his victims and goes over to it. He flips the body over and removes the backpack he had. He empties out the contents of the pack then turns to me saying, "You're gonna need one of these. Know how to put it on?"

"Yeah, of course." My magic grabs a hold of it and I bring it over to me. I noticed speckles of blood soaked into the fabric. Some of it belonged to the owner while some were faded. It felt so wrong to use a dead man's backpack. A dirty one on that. Rather than complaining, I slid the straps over my front legs to where it rested on my back along with sliding my wrench into the biggest pocket.

"It looks to be in decent condition. Must have been stolen." Davey commented.

I tried not to think about the origins of this backpack, instead fiddling with the the straps to a more comfortable feel. They were set to fit a man's arms, not a ponies legs, and because of that it was far too tight. To save up on magic, I opted for using my teeth to tighten it. It proved to be much more difficult with my teeth only clicking at air.

"Let's just tighten it for you and go." Jacob stated. With my companions to my sides, they loosen the straps to where it was snug against my shoulders. "You're good?" I give a little shake to adjust to the weight before nodding. "Good."

And so we moved back to the door that led to stairwell. Jacob slipped in first before motioning us to follow after him. Every time we were on a new floor, one of the two made a quick survey of the floor to see if any of the brutes were hiding. When they disappeared into the shadows, I was stricken with worry that they would fall prey to an ambush just like how we ambushed the last group. They'd return back unscathed but my anxiety would grow the more floors we descended.

During our descent, Jacob noticed my fretting and bumped his leg into mine. "Relax kid. Being tense won't help you." He assured me. I give a smile, a deep breath and a thank you for his concern of me.

We made short work of the floors before we ended at the base floor. Cautiously, we stepped toward the door with Davey and Jacob taking a side to the door; I was directly behind Jacob. Jacob peered through a small rectangular window on the door and stared into the dark. Tucking his head out of view he reported seeing: two at the back of the room behind a long desk, one behind the arrow-shaped office desk, and two behind lounge chairs close to the door. How could he have known that? It's far too dark to even see a foot in front you let alone spot everyone in the room. For now I took his word mostly because Davey seemed to believe him.

"Those odds don't look good...maybe we can-" a series of shots disrupted Davey as they penetrated through the door and left small holes behind. They shouted jeers for our cowardice. Yelling for us to give it up.

"Goddammit." Jacob cursed.

The two men stared at each other. A silent discussion for plans to go about this. For taking too long, more shots blared out and went through the door. "Come on out fuckers!" This was turning bad. I had to help.

"Jacob, maybe I can do something." I whispered to the floor.

"What? How?" He turned to me now.

"I can make a distraction. With magic."

Unsure, Jacob turned to Davey for his input. "It's our only choice. We gotta try it. What do you have in mind Twilight?"

"I can...conjure up a ball of light. It would detonate as a bright flash of light. Stun them for a good while."

"Kinda like a flash bomb. I like it Sparkle. Do it."

I had my duty and it was time to follow through with it. Gathering whatever magic I can, I concentrated on the spell. This was not an overly complicated spell, but fatigue was quickly weighing down on me. Despite that, I persevered through it. My eyes were clenched shut but I was able to hear the brutes on the other side. They were confused, shouting about an orb of light. Fired shots erupted in frenzy, none of them directed to us, but to my orb of light. With some exertion, I forced the light to burst outwards, bathing the entire lobby in the purest of white light.

"Move in!" Shouted Jacob. With no time for me to recover, we pushed through the door and into the lobby filled with the dazed attackers. I was right next to Davey as we made cover behind the chairs closest to us. Lifting his rifle, Davey butted the man to the ground before pulling his trigger and killing his foe. Jacob clubs his opponent against the side of his head. The blow dropped him to ground and without a second to spare, his windpipe was crushed under Jacob's heavy boot.

The adrenaline in my veins heightened my senses. The room was clear and I was determined.

Finally getting over the flash, the maniac behind the arrow desk vaulted over and made a mad dash to Jacob. The cleaver in his hand was raised high over his head ready to strike down. Focusing on my magic, I grabbed a hold of his foot while it was in motion. He tripped down and face planted practically near Jacob's feet. Withdrawing his knife, Jacob pierced the side of his head with a smooth arc of his arm. He had trouble taking the knife out which gave an attacker the perfect opportunity to fire a shot into Jacob's arm making him recoil back into cover.

I couldn't help but let a gasp escape me. We were doing so well with no injuries. Now Jacob is wounded and quite possibly out of the fight. Davey rose from his spot and fired his own rounds back. None of them made contact. This was a standstill and for a brief period, all was mute.

It was soon broken when an individual was moving around. I peeked my head from the couch and saw this man moving from cover to cover and closer to Jacob who was still cupping his wound. "There's only one with a gun. The other is making a move for Jacob. Go to him and protect him. I'll give you some cover fire. Now go." It was only now that I realized how far apart we are from Jacob. Through this stretch, there was a chance to get shot and killed, but Davey said he'd cover for me. I was running out of time and had to move now for my friend's sake. I finally decided to gallop to Jacob's side.

In the midpoint between Jacob and Davey, I was nearly shot by the gunner. The projectile impacted with the floor, a couple of inches from my leg. Another round blared, this time coming from Davey. His strike aimed true and ended the gunner's life with his body dropping with a thud. I reached Jacob's side but it was already too late. I was beat by the last member of the bandit group. With Jacob's bat in hand, he made repeated strike's against the downed man. Trying to stop the assault, Jacob shielded himself with his unhurt arm only for it to get swatted aside with the wooden bat.

Beaten and bruised, Jacob was nearly gone. The killer lifted the bat and dealt his finishing blow. Summoning all my might, I erected a bubble shield around Jacob's body. For only lasting a second, it managed to block the attack before shattering to nothingness. It bought enough time for Davey to react and fire his last shot that did away with the bandit's life.

Davey ran past me and straight to Jacob. "Jacob. Talk to me!"

He let out a pained groan. "We get 'em?"

"Yeah, we're fine. But what about you? Let me see your arms." Davey crouched down and gently turned Jacob onto his back. He tentatively slid down Jacob's sleeves and lifted his bruised arm. "Well, it's not that bad." I walked up next to Davey and looked over our injured companion.

Jacob laid with closed eyes trying to maintain his breathing. His left arm had some red bruises that went from his forearm and shoulder. It didn't look like there were any broken bones and his hand seemed fine. His right arm had rivulets of blood coming from the tiny entry wound. Whatever whizzed into his shoulder didn't leave.

I wasn't in any way, shape, or form able to provide medical advice.

Davey was quickly reacting to the situation. He set down his backpack and pulled out some white rags plus a red and white plastic bottle. He unscrewed the bottle and popped out two similarly red and white pills.

"Swallow these." Jacob opened his mouth and Davey dropped the pills into his mouth. He then went to work by gently wrapping the rags over the hole wound. He quickly secured it with a tight tug.

"Are they kicking in yet?"

He took a while to respond. "Yeah, they are. Help me up." Davey goes to pull him up but I take the initiative and lift him up with magic. There was a strain when I used my magic, but I put my pain aside. He was soon upright and leaning onto a table. "Thanks Sparkle. And thanks for saving me back there with that bubble thing you conjured up. Saved my life."

"You would've done the same for me." I said with a smile.

He chuckled. "I can't do magic."

"You know what I mean." I took the time to look at the lobby that was littered with bodies. "Now what do we do?"

"Well," He started as he bent down to retrieve his bat back. "We pick 'em clean. Check for valuables."

"You sure you can walk?" asked Davey.

"My arms hurt, not my legs." Davey nodded and they went to pillage the bodies.

I needed a moment. Just some time to regulate my beating chest and assess the situation that just transpired. Once the adrenaline died down, I took some things to mind. There were more dead bodies. I withheld my vomit this time around and took deep breathes. It didn't really help because I was inhaling the fumes of death which made me throw up anyways.

"Oh Celestia." I whispered out.

"Hey," Jacob called for my attention from across the room. "You gonna help or not?"

"You want my search their bodies?"

"That's exactly what I want you to do. Get their shoes first. Then check the pockets. Then their packs if they have one on. Come to me with anything you think is useful." He resumed his pillaging.

I turned to the corpse closest to me and that was the one that wielded the cleavers. He did not wear any shoes and the lack of them resulted in many callouses over his bare feet. I then walked over to his pants and reluctantly patted down his sides. Feeling something inside, I levitated out it's contents. There were only red berries, string, and some yellow plastic container. The container had some mechanism that required human fingers to function so I placed it into my pack.

I moved on to the next body which was the one attacking Jacob with his own bat. This one actually had a single boot on. It wasn't in good condition either since the soles were ripping away. Regardless, I took it with me and placed in my pack. I quickly rifled through the pockets and found pebbles and some mushrooms. Odd. There was a backpack on him and inside it was a water bottle with a questionable liquid inside. It looked like urine. I didn't take the time to confirm it. Other than the bottle, there was just some sticks and more string. The pack itself was torn at parts and had a hole at the bottom of it. Guess we won't be taking it with us.

By that time, we were done salvaging the corpses. They didn't tell me what they found but I did see Davey insert new 'bullets' into his rifle as well as carrying another rifle that most likely belonged to the man he shot. He got some strap and attached it to the new rifle. He then slung it over his left shoulder.

I walked over to them and showed them what I got. A boot and a plastic yellow thing.

"Hey, a lighter. Not a bad find." Jacob swiped it from me and gave it a shake. "It still has some to it! We were having a stroke of bad luck finding these things."

"Well what does it do?"

He demonstrated its function by running his thumb over the mechanism. A small ember ignited. It's incredible what human technology can create. I remember Applejack showing me how to create a campfire. It is basically bashing together some flint or using sticks as friction over kindling. With this, it'll be a lot easier to get a fire going.

"Go ahead and keep it." He tossed it to me and I caught it in my aura. I placed it back in my pack. "Keep the boot too. Me and Davey are getting a little heavy with some stuff." And so I kept the boot. "Despite me getting shot and bashed, I think we came out a little richer. Davey, re-set that trap again. We're going back to our camp." We made our way back to our floor and back to the sleeping bags. The two let out heavy sighs as they sat down and took off their backpacks.

"So. How's your first day in Michigan?" Davey asked with half a smile.

I laughed with little emotion. "It's terrible. But I am glad that you guys found me. I don't know where I'd be if you hadn't."

"Dead probably."

"Thank you Jacob."

"Yep." He massaged his bruised arm.

"It's time to rest now. We hardly have enough time to sleep but we should get what we can. I got watch."

Jacob grumbled but didn't protest. "Fine." He went over to his sleeping bag but he stopped and stared at it for a moment.

"Fucking Christ. Sparkle! You got fur all over it." Indeed there was my purple fur in the inside of his mummy bag.

"Oh gosh. I'm really sorry Jacob. I can clean it out for you? Just let me-"

"It's fine. I'll take Davey's." He grumbled some more choice words and zipped himself in.

I looked to Davey for advice. He merely shrugged. "Goodnight Twilight."

I crawled back into Jacob's sleeping bag. "Goodnight Davey." I closed my eyes and drifted to a dreamless sleep.

Chapter 5

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6

Jacob

It's been the fifth time I've woken up this night. I'm terribly exhausted at this point. Twilight and Jacob are still sound asleep as well as everyone else in the damn store.

For now, I just lie in silence and contemplate on my life. I think on my past experiences. Like my first night in the open wilderness. Remembering how scared I was to sleep alone. How terrible my first kill was. The time I hunted and gutted my first dog. The times I almost died. The scars I've collected. Any good memories that I can muster from my mind. Most of those good memories had Davey in them.

Looking back now, it seems like ages ago since we first met. I remember the day perfectly. I tried to return the toddler back to the DMC, but he made it clear that he wanted to be outside the walls and stay far away from the city. I'd eventually find out that Davey was orphaned and how he very much didn't like being juggled from home to home. As a child, he grew up idolizing the Scavenger team as pioneers, celebrities, even heroes. When he stuck with me, he learned real quick that being a Scavenger wasn't anything like he imagined. Yet he stayed with me through thick and thin.

Despite his weakness in strength, Davey made a hell of a Scavenger. He mastered more skills than I ever will which turned him into a distinguishable character. Skills like tracking, hunting prey, and opening locked doors made Davey look like a prodigy. Then there's the DMC who are constantly trying their hardest to recruit him into the guard, yet he always refuses the offer. I have to force him sometimes to go along with the training squads and learn the rules required to become a DMC guard. He agrees, but he makes a point to not sign any paperwork to become one. He likes being a Scavenger. Or maybe he likes to stay with me. If Davey becomes a guard, his life in the DMC would be set in stone. This is something I want for him even he doesn't think it's the best option for the both of us. I've had my chance and I blew it to smithereens. He needs to worry about his own future, not mine.

Hmm...

Speaking of future, what about that Unicorn? Just another day of walking and we'll be at the checkpoint where we'll drop her off. She'll call her friends and leave. End of story.

But what if her friends don't answer her? Tch. Not really my problem.

I look toward the Unicorn gently sleeping in what use to be my mummy bag. Twilight took advantage of the night, using this precious time to gather her strength. Then there's me who couldn't even close his own eyes for a good five minutes. She had a blissful face on, not even making a sound. She looked a little unkempt but that only made her look more adorable. Kinda makes me want to fix her up as a kind gesture. Maybe then she'll apologize to me.

...

...What am I saying? Where the hell did that came from?!

Now that I think about it, there was an odd feeling brought out when she used magic for the first time. Something that tugged at the heartstrings. An emotion that I've felt before but not as strongly. It was a warm feeling. A feeling of...completeness? Warmth? Happiness? I'm describing it but not really hitting the name of it. A feeling close to something I share with Davey but much more refined in quality. The name is off the tip of my tongue. If only I can-

"Jacob. Are you awake?"

A whispering dark figure to my right was crouched before me. I didn't even notice he was there until he spoke to me.

"Yeah, I'm up. What do you want Floyd?"

Floyd just remained hovering over me before he stood back up. "Come with me. Let's talk a while."

"Can't you see I'm trying to sleep here?"

"If you were trying, you would've been asleep already instead of staring at your little friend over there," He gestured to Twilight. "Come on."

He waits for me to get up from my makeshift bed. Afterwards, I look to my backpack then back to him.

"You won't need it. We're just heading to the back. To talk with some of the fellas."

A sharp suspicion crosses my mind. "What about?"

He bobs his head side to side. "Just some concerns." He saw how doubtful I might have looked. "It's nothing Jacob. Just a talk."

We silently walked toward the back end of the market. I thought all the back entrances were blocked by the empty shelves, but Floyd proved me wrong when he moved a large piece of plywood that was covering a door. On the other side of this door was some kind of supervisors room. It had the usual office debris that seems to replicate itself everywhere else in Michigan. This room had a wide window view, now shattered fragments of glass, that overlooked the docking bay where trucks came in to unload their cargo. Again, the shelves were completely void of any product that may have once been there. There was one small cargo truck left behind. It bared the logo of this market but the paint is fading and the metal was giving to rust. Just beside this forlorn truck were three other men sitting on wooden crates. A small lantern was placed on a nearby shelf which gave off very little light. Thanks to my one artificial eye, I was able to better see all these details than anyone else.

Floyd walked on to an empty crate and sat on it. I stood standing beside him. For the first few tense moments, the men just stared at me.

Then it hit me. These were the few of many who participated in my mock auction that was selling Twilight. Floyd was included in that group. I knew now what they wanted to talk about.

"You guys really must want her."

"When you try to sell an exotic animal to us then suddenly pull out, it's bound to make a few of us angry." One of them said.

"It was just a fucking joke." I groan out.

"A joke you shouldn't have done." Looking back now, it was really fucking stupid of me to do that. I didn't have anything to gain but I still did it for laughs. Now I'm going to pay for being such an idiot.

"...So what? You guys gonna kill me then steal the unicorn afterwards?" My hands were clenched tight, ready to throw a fist if I had to.

"No Jacob," Spoke Floyd. "we aren't so cold blooded. Let's just...renegotiate a price for her."

"She's not for sale."

"Just listen to us. Take a look at what we have to offer you." He pulls out an iconic black case and opens it. It was a Nanorobot Medical Kit filled with three refills. Just one refill can save you from an early grave while also giving faster healing rate. A miracle concoction with a modern touch. These kits, especially the refills, were all but extinct outside of DMC territory. A single one can be traded for handfuls of bullets and food to last for days. Possible more if the buyer is desperate.

I remember him offering me two suspension refills yesterday but he didn't have proof of having them. So I declined his offer. But Floyd is showing me his price of three refills. Seeing them now, I was tempted to take his offer but I am a man of my word. Twilight has pulled her weight of the group and I can't just forsake her now.

"This might not be enough for the unicorn so the fellas are going to pitch in." The other three men pulled out their own commodities from behind the crates they sat on. A fully loaded rifle that is in decent shape. A relatively well kept gas mask complete with an air filter. No telling if it was full or not. Then there was a military issue body vest. Bad condition by the way. It offered a modest amount of protection from stray bullets, but it's efficiency is definitely in question.

"All of this can be yours. The things we're trading will put a damper on us. So you can see how much we really want her with us."

I looked at all that was to be offered. It pained me to have to decline. "No deal."

Floyd let a a typical old geyser sigh. "Can't blame us for not trying. C'mon fellas. Let's go." They make to put away their goods and leave before I stop them.

"Why do you guys want Twilight so much?"

"Are you dumb or something?" Said one of the men who hasn't spoken yet. "It's a god damn unicorn! That can do magic and talk! Of course we'd want something like that."

"So that's just it? She was just unique?"

Another man spoke. "She's really good with the kids. Can comfort them when she has too. That can be another thing she can do."

Then the third man spoke. "Not only all that. But her magic did something to everyone of us. Something that left a warm feeling in our chests. We want more of that feeling."

They finally had my full attention.

The man continued. "It was such a brief moment of warmth. I talked it out with the fellas and they felt the same exact thing. At the same time the unicorn used magic. It was something we needed to feel again." The last line sounded a little on the edge of creepy. Too eager.

I looked to Floyd. "You felt the same thing too?"

He nodded slowly. "It was the most pleasant feeling I ever had. Close to the time of my wedding night. Only better." He tried to describe this feeling some more. "Like getting hugged by your momma for the first time in years. Like seeing someone you care about being happy. Like bottled love. Pure, warm love." He licked his lips. "And we all had a single drop to drink."

...

"You felt it too right?"

"...I have."

"And what did you think of it?"

"..." They know. They know I'm starting to like it. From what the other's just told me, this is starting to sound addictive. I can't show my true feelings toward it.

"I know it's there. But I'm trying to resist it."

"What for?" Demanded Floyd.

"It's not...natural to do that. Especially since she's doing it with her crazy magic."

"You're going to cut off her horn then?" One of the men said.

I squinted my eyes at that person. "Nothing that cruel. Fuck." I sighed and rubbed my face against the palm of my hand. "I'll talk to her about it. What she's doing to all of us."

"Gonna tell her to stop using magic?"

"...No. It's too useful to just make her stop. Maybe I'll try to get her to explain what it is." And then she can put a stop to that instead of stopping her magic all together.

"So she ain't for sale?"

"No."

No one had anything else to say. We soon filed out of the docking bay and separated to our respected camping sites. As I approached mine, I saw that Twilight wasn't there. Did they fucking snatch her up while I was gone? Those fucking back stabbing-.

I stop when I saw Twilight sitting over by the front of the store, staring through the intact window and into the blue sky. It was early morning now.

I debated whether or not to go to bed right now and try to catch an hour or two of sleep. I decided to walk up next to Twilight. She glanced over her shoulder to see who was walking up to her before she turned back to the sky. I sit down next to her, leaving a small gap between us.

"Morning sunshine."

"..."

"You're not mad at me are you?"

"Where were you just now?" She said without breaking eye contact to the plain sky.

"Just talking with some people."

"Can I ask what about?"

"Uh...," Might as well come clean. "They wanted to know if they can still buy you."

"Mm." Her expressions was the same. A small frown.

"I said no, you know."

"Okay."

"...They offered some real useful stuff too. But I still said no."

"I believe you Jacob."

"Good. Just, making the point across. It was just a joke."

"Not a really good joke. At all."

"Yeah."

What the hell was so important about this damn sky? A few clouds, some sunshine. Maybe she's thinking.

"Jacob?"

"Yeah?"

"Who raises the sun?"

"What." What the hell is she talking about?

"The sun. Does someone in the DMC raise and lower your sun and moon?"

"No. They move on their own."

That made her stop looking out the window and turn to me. She looked very puzzled. Confused. "How can they do that though? Are you sure no one here does that?"

"It's a fucking ball of fire and a rock in space. Um..." C'mon. It hasn't been that long since I've been out of school. "Uh...we revolve around the sun...The sun doesn't move. The Earth does. And the moon moves around the Earth." I droned out the choppy facts that I remember about our solar system. I never did like science let alone astronomy. "Yeah...no one can actually move the sun or the moon. It's impossible."

"You wouldn't know the science behind your claim, would you?"

"No I don't. I don't remember any of the workings. All I know is that I'm right. Where did you even come up with that?" I'm almost certain she will say 'Magic of course!'.

"Remember those princesses I mentioned yesterday? When we were in the woods?"

"I do. Celestial and Lunar."

"Celestia and Luna, Jacob." She corrected me. "Not only are they the rulers of Equestria, they are also goddesses." She looks back to staring out the window. "Immortal beings that share a special bond to their corresponding celestial entity. Princess Celestia controls the sun. And Princess Luna controls the moon and stars. I noticed that your sun also rises," No fucking shit. "and I thought of my mentor. Which led me to believe that perhaps you too have some supreme being that also raises the sun. Now that I think about it, I kinda did jump to the first connection I came to."

"You did."

"...I did." She inhaled deeply and exhaled sharply. "So you have no goddess to speak of?"

"Nah. No one that can raise a sun."

"Oh." We sat in silence and stared out the window together for a spell. Not saying anything to each other. Right now, I'm really regretting not getting any sleep. My eyes almost shut closed a couple of times when I stared at the clouds. Twilight noticed.

"You should go back to sleep Jacob."

"I'm fine. We gotta leave soon anyways." I don't make a move to get up. I just stare out with lidded eyes.

"You're obviously tired. Just get an hour or two."

I rubbed my eyes and shook my head vigorously. "I'm fine," I repeat, "I'll buy some meat when I can then we'll head out."

"Why can't we travel with this group? They could be going in the same direction. Plus it's safer to travel in groups right?"

Better squash that idea. "The people I was talking to just now seemed to really want you for themselves."

She didn't make the connection. "Of course they do. They were willing to buy me just now."

"No, I meant that - they seemed desperate to keep you here."

"...How desperate?"

"Enough to kidnap you, I'm guessing. It's fucking weird." Twilight started shuffling on her fore hooves, suddenly feeling exposed. "When I didn't see you in the sleeping bag, I thought they took you already. They'd probably get the chance to snatch you if we stay one more night."

"You really think so?"

"No. I'm just guessing. But I'm not going to risk it." Especially if Floyd was involved. I like the man, but honestly, he's a fucking weirdo.

"...Sorry Jacob."

"What for?"

"For bringing all this...attention to us. I didn't think people would be so," she rolled her hoof in the air before she found the right word. "eager to - to own me." She shivered when saying that.

"Yeah well, none of this would've happened if I didn't try to sell you in the first place. So, I'm sorry for that."

"It's okay. Just please be more mindful with your jokes in the future. Please?"

"I promise."

She smiled. "You Pinkie Promise?"

"...What?"

"Nothing," She turned back to looking through the window. "Just something from home." She spoke wistfully.

Without saying a word, I stand up and head back to our bed site. Davey was already awake when I arrived.

By the looks of it, he was checking our inventory. He seemed just about done when he zipped close the duffle bag I carry over my shoulder.

"Where you been? You weren't here when I woke up."

"Talking with some guys that still wanted to buy Sparkle. I made it clear she's not for sale."

Davey smiled at that. "Good. I also saw that you talked to her?"

"Yeah. We made up, don't worry. I'm sure we're fine."

"Good, good. So uh, we have extra room now. What with all the junk we sold yesterday. Now your back won't break this time around."

He always liked to make fun of my age. "Fuck off."

Davey snickered. "We're prepped and ready to go now. We still have bottles of water to spare. For food...we have no food on us."

"As soon as they start grilling their meat, I'll buy some to go."

"How long we going to wait then?"

"They said they have a lot of hunters. Maybe they're out there hunting right now. Shouldn't be long I'm guessing." I settle down on the floor again, exhaling heavily through my nose. Getting tired of sitting on my ass. "Davey. Have you ever noticed anything odd coming from Sparkle's magic?"

"It's magic." He said as if it was obvious.

"Besides that. Did you ever feel something? Anything when she used magic?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah. Thought it was just me."

"It's not just you. It's me, Floyd, the whole damn crowd that wanted to buy her felt it! This is fucking nuts. You got any idea what that is?"

"You mean everyone felt the same thing?"

"Yes, the same damn thing."

Davey flickered his eyes over to Twilight who was still staring out the window. "Bizarre."

"I'm going to talk to her later about it. Find out something. First, tell me what you think of it."

He just shrugged his shoulders. "It's harmless. It's not necessarily a bad feeling. It's a good feeling. Warms the heart."

"Do you not remember that small mob that wanted to buy her yesterday?"

"We are talking about a unicorn for sale. Of course people would be lining up to bid on something exotic. Magic or no."

He had a point. "It's still some weird byproduct she makes. I'm thinking we limit her usage of magic."

"Whoa now Jacob. Her magic is useful. And that feeling isn't hurting anyone."

I bit my lip a little. Internally debating if I should admit how it affects me. I quickly decide to tell him. "It's changing me. Making me...I don't know, nicer? Kind? Soft? It's fucking me up."

"You weren't always a cold person. Maybe this feeling is...raising old feelings?"

"All that mushy shit died inside me, Davey. Twilight Sparkle is messing with me."

"Not on purpose."

"Maybe."

"I'm pretty sure."

I grumble curses to myself. Before I can add on to the conversation, Twilight came to us in a hurry. She looked startled by something. Before we can ask, three men came into the market, out of breath. A crowd formed around the three, all speaking in hushed tones on what happened. One of the men answered. "A pack! A dogmen pack!" The crowd hushed to silence. The man now had better control of his breathing. "They took out Johnny, Tom, and Sam. They're dead."

"How many are there?" Said a random person from the crowd.

"We only saw four. There had to be more."

"Did you bring anything from your hunt?"

"Nothing. We have nothing."

I focused directly onto the scene before us. Twilight interrupted me. "Jacob? What's going on?"

"There's a pack of dogmen on the loose in the city." I answered.

"I still don't know what dogmen are."

"Just look at everyone's faces," I gesture with an arc of my hand. "dogmen are killers. A pack is death."

"How many are usually in a pack?"

"Six. Eight. Something like that." The crowd continued to listen to the warnings of the three survivors. They all had the look of fear and uncertainty among them.

"Guess we won't be leaving anytime soon. Unless you want to risk it?" Asked Davey.

If we stay, we can hold out until the pack leaves or hope that this group manages to take a few shots at them to scare them off. This might not be the case. If a pack is lurking in these ruins, they obviously want to make a meal out of us. Maybe if they ate a few more of us, they'd leave. Not like we'll actually do that though. If we leave, we can hunt our meal and make track to the checkpoint but we'd be defenseless to that pack. We'd get tracked down and followed. There would be no fighting a pack, we will lose that battle unless we can outrun them. Again, outrunning them is a lost cause. Sit here and slowly starve or risk the jaws of death?

"No...We're not risking it. We'll stay put for now." A man who looked to hold authority came to the scene and barked out some orders. Things like putting more guards on watch. Volunteer some of the regulars to go on the roof and keep a lookout. They were going to fortify this supermarket until the pack left. The man was finally going to dictate his last order.

"Everyone under our care only gets one meal per day while the pack is out there. Anyone goes over their ration leaves the group. This is your only warning." He clarifies a few more rules before he returns to wherever he was. The crowd soon disperses as well.

"Does that one meal per day count toward us?" Asked Twilight.

"I don't think it does." Answered Davey.

This was bad. I need to talk to Floyd.

Speak of the devil, Floyd is already walking toward us. His look of concern did not really assure me of the eating situation.

"Are we guaranteed a meal or not?"

"Sorry fellas, you're on your own." He said woefully. "I tried talking sense into Leonard, the man who spoke those commandments, but he shut down the thought. He cares more for his people than you."

"There's gotta be something we can work out. Anything." Floyd glanced down to Twilight who flinched and stepped away from Floyd. "...Most anything."

"There's nothing you can do Jacob. Just hope this pack leaves soon. Don't want you dying over hunger."

"I don't want to die of hunger either. At least you tried Floyd. All I can ask for. Thanks."

"No problem Jacob. See 'ya Davey." Again he looked to Twilight who stared nervously back. "Missus." Floyd turns to leave us.

"I really don't like Floyd." Uttered Twilight.

"An oddball sure, but I thinks it's because he's old. Hope Jacob doesn't turn that way." Davey joked.

"Uh huh, sure." There was nothing left to do but wait. Wait and starve. "How hungry are you right now Sparkle?"

She did an internal check before responding. "I'm definitely hungry. But I can go for a day if I have to."

"Tell me if you start feeling weak. You Davey?"

"I'll make it through the day. Don't know for tomorrow."

"We're all in the same boat then." The entire market was in a dull chatter. A little more panicky than usual. Armed men reported to the windows while the men outside came inside. Some regular people were escorted outside by two armed men. Possibly taking them to the roof through a ladder on the side. The people held their belongings close, ready to leave the moment a disaster happens. The children were huddled with a woman who was softly talking to them. Everyone was doing something to occupy themselves.

Once I was done looking all over the market, I went to the makeshift bed I had and laid down on it. I emitted a soft groan and slowly close my eyes. "I'll be taking a nap. Watch over Sparkle, will you Davey."

"Uh, sure thing Jacob, but shouldn't you be aw-"

"Let him rest Davey. I don't think he had any sleep." Twilight trotted toward over me. "You don't mind if I spend my time with the children right."

I toss to my side, face away from Sparkle and mutter. "Go nuts. Don't leave Davey's sight." She didn't offer a response and probably left to be with the kids. Davey sat down somewhere near me. Soon everything faded away and so did the noise around me.